Hello dear reader,
Since my last post a small number of people have decided to become paid subscribers, for which I am very grateful. I write because I like to and share my writings for free. However, I still need income to pay for the bills. Especially now, since the energy bills here in the Netherlands have risen by 300-400% (or more). How come? you might ask. To which I would answer: Because you cannot win a fight with reality. And the governing forces of the European Union have been trying exactly that for quite a while now. Let’s dive in.
When you argue with reality, you lose— but only 100% of the time. - Byron Katie
It’s funny that we can use a quote from a popular spiritual teacher to describe the current European crisis. And at the same time strangely logical. You see, just like our individual nature is to avoid pain, our collective nature is exactly the same. Why would you confront pain if the much easier option would be to take a pill and be temporarily relieved from it? And in a society built on a foundation of pain avoidance, it is only a matter of time before reality checks in and shows that its universal laws cannot be avoided forever. Often resulting in a crisis.
It reminds me of my personal story. Unbreakable as I thought myself to be, I started as a young and ambitious workhorse in my dad’s company, eager to pull the company out of the crisis it was in during the time. Although my long working days seemed to have a positive effect on the company, my body started to whisper that perhaps I should take more breaks. Which I neglected. So my body started to increase the intensity of signaling in the form of strange symptoms. For which I took medicines, allowing me to continue at the same pace as I had before. Until finally, while standing at a festival, my brain cracked and my body collapsed. Crisis.
Most generations alive today are used to comfort. Here in the West, the basic needs of most people are well met, which allows us to spend time on activities unrelated to basic survival. The shadow side might however be that we stopped valuing what is now normal to us. A roof above your head, cold and hot water whenever you want it, food in abundance. And perhaps most important of all: The energy to travel, grow food and keep yourself warm. In decades of commodity abundance, it is only natural that the value narrative shifts from basic needs to comfort-enhancing technologies. That, and the incredible amount of money debasement by our central banks, might be why the big tech stocks like Apple, Google and Amazon have risen in value by absurd multitudes. But ask yourself, what would you rather own on a desert island having to survive on your own? An Iphone 14 Pro with an even better camera than before? Or a loaf of bread? We can laugh about it, but at the moment, we value the Iphone a 1000x times more than the loaf of bread.
However, just like all tides do, this specific tide of abundance seems to be shifting. Shifting from abundance back to scarcity. From having forgotten how to value the most basic natural resources of our planet, to a reality check in which we have to confront the pain of not having our basic needs met. Unfortunately, a life in which all basic meets are met also means a slow but gradual shift away from the essence of life. Basic survival means confronting reality on every given day, getting to know how universal laws play out in a game of life and death, and learning how to deal with unexpected outcomes. It does not leave much room for idealism and hope. Two words with the most positive intentions and yet gateways to reality checks and emotional suffering. Simply because expectations are not real.
But what is idealism really? Is it not a view created by our minds, an expectation of what reality should be like that we become attached to? So attached that we emotionally cannot fathom the possibility that reality itself has different ideas, therefore deluding ourselves to great lengths until eventually, finally, reality checks in and crushes our beloved view of what the world should be like with a devastating blow. Leaving us in pain and confusion of how in God’s name this could possibly have happened. Because really, our intentions were so good.
So full of hope of a better world, of a world without humanity using fossil fuels to energize our lives, the EU came up with the wonderful but enormously idealistic intention of Net Zero. Basically meaning no emissions, with emission being a humanly created concept to measure specific substances like co2, methane etc. The EU started with the idea of using the most efficient energy source known to men, nuclear energy, to compensate for the loss of energy produced by using fossil fuel. But after Cernobyl in 1986, humanity became so afraid of the potential consequences of nuclear energy, that the idea slowly shifted towards renewable energy sources from water, wind and the sun. And as we humans have a slight inclination to, the battle of humanity versus nuclear energy became idealistic. So idealistic, that big funded environmental trusts like GreenPeace made it their project to crush whatever nuclear energy projects still remained as quickly as possible. With success, as many countries planned and still plan to close down all of their reactors indefinitely. Even today, while the energy crisis in the EU is roaring beyond expectations, Germany is still adamant on closing down their last remaining nuclear reactors.
But as the nuclear proposition went from embraced to utterly annihilated, the focus shifted towards renewable energy sources in the form of wind and solar energy. Although environmentally friendly, this transition poses great challenges for our energy grids. Renewable sources are not nearly as reliable, meaning their productivity shifts with the input of sun and wind provided by our planet, and their efficiency is nowhere near comparable to that of a nuclear power plant, meaning that a lot of resources and stretches of land are needed to reach the same output.
While EU’s net zero ideology lead us to abandoning nuclear and coal plants, greatly incentivizing citizens to buy and use solar roof panels and greatly investing in renewable sources of energy, the dependability on fossil fuels imported from Russia greatly increased. And we all know what happened with Russia don’t we? Russia attacked Ukraine and the West was quick to respond by sanctioning Russia in any way it could. For in a dual worldview, evil must be destroyed immediately by the forces of goodness.
In the EU’s ideological worldview of net zero, they forgot that fossil fuels are still highly necessary to maintain the same comforts of living. So while the EU was busy banning all sorts of “bad” energy producers, it was only natural that the exact same amount of energy needed to come from the exact same “bad” energy producers. But then located somewhere else. In our case, ironically, the empire of Russia, perceived to be evil by many.
And thus, reality checked in. And as it tends to do, it did so with a blow. Russia replied to our sanctions by shutting down its gas flows to the EU and the EU had to bid enormous amounts of money for the exact same “bad” energy sources that it had so ideologically abandoned even before it was possible to do so. Not only did this lead to insane energy price increases for both companies and citizens, it also lead to poor countries not being able to import enough gas due to EU’s maximum outbidding strategy. And it lead to the EU having to fire up its vilified and abandoned coal plants, which are both less efficient and more environmentally unfriendly at the same time. Even the burning of wood, one of the least efficient energy sources, has now become popular again in the EU. But as our forests are “renewable”, this still fits into the EU’s ideological view of net zero.
In conclusion, reality backfired. The EU had wonderful intentions, but the intentions turned into idealism. And as we’ve seen, idealism binds us into seeing only our perspective as right and good. Thereby forgetting that our perspective, however good the label is we stick on it, has nothing to do with reality. In reality, the notions of bad and good do not exist. Reality IS. And you can fight what is, only to be emotionally hurt over and over again. Reality provided the EU with a gritty but wonderful lesson. That no matter how good or intentions are, universal laws are meant to be embraced and followed. If not, the consequences will be dire, as unfortunately every EU citizen with the exemption of the very wealthy and powerful must feel.
The question that remains is whether our governing forces will learn from it. To embrace their mistakes and adjust their idealistic net zero view to a view in line of what the universe can give us. The middle way perhaps, the way of least resistance, as can be learned in the art of meditation. If not, the universe has a way of throwing more challenges in the mix. Because a view of a green Utopia in the future in a present reality of social disorder due to poverty and unmet needs is a contrast between expectation and reality so large that it can only be meant to be reality checked.
In the meantime, we could start by being grateful for what the universe does give us. To become aware of the perhaps abnormal comforts that have been given to us. And to, instead of personally vilify our governing forces for the pain they caused us, recognize the exact same flaws in our own being. It is only natural to have great expectations based on wonderful intentions. And it is only natural to be let down every time reality checks in and shows us the expectation was merely an imagination based on nothing but mind-made substances. It helps to forgive, helps to heal and helps to slowly become aware of the ineffable universal laws guiding collective humanity. Through us, as us. As above, so below. As within, so without. Start to lovingly becoming aware within and without will eventually be you as well.
And the next time a strong expectation arises within you, I expect you to question its essence. oh wait..
From the heart,
Pim
It's quite sad to see that we'd rather trust our intuition (nuclear feels scary, green feels great) and burn the planet as well as be dependent on Russia, rather than look at data and make a rational decision.